Guided reading is a teaching approach designed
to help students learn how to process a variety of increasingly
difficult texts with understanding and fluency. During Guided
Reading, the teacher selects an appropriately leveled book, introduces
it to a small group of students, and provides supportive teaching
to help the students understand what reading is and how it works.

How are
Guided Reading groups determined?

The focus of the Guided Reading group is determined
by the teacher’s assessment of individual student needs.
To determine groups for Guided Reading, the teacher must be aware
of each reader’s progress as determined by individual running
record analysis. Marlington Local elementary teachers use the
Dominie Reading Assessment Portfolio to take running records,
code reading behaviors, and assign reading levels.

How
is the Dominie Reading Assessment used?

The Dominie Assessment is used to determine the
reader's oral and comprehension reading levels. An oral reading
level should be a minimum of 90% accuracy. Student comprehension
level must be at a minimum 75% level.

What
is a Running Record?

As the individual student reads a given text,
the teacher records reading behaviors. A check mark is used for
accurate reading, and a series of codes for different reading
behaviors. Below is a sample of how different reading errors are
coded.

An analysis of reading errors provides
the teacher with knowledge of the reader’s strengths and
weaknesses. Errors can be identified to be semantically
acceptable (does not change the meaning of the text), syntactically
acceptable (syntax remains correct), or phonemically similar (
word is phonetically close to the accurate word).

What
kind of comprehension activity is involved?

Comprehension / Story Retelling
Sample

1. Did you like that story?
2. Retell the story in your own words.
3. Who was in the story? (Circle those mentioned)
Characters: Mary
John
Jim Miss Smith
4. What was Mary’s surprise?
5. Why did Mary make such a secret of her surprise?
6. Why did Miss Smith ask Mary to take her box home?
7. What did the other children guess was Mary’s surprise?
(Must include at
least one of: blocks, map, empty box)
8. What does the word distraction mean?
9. What does the word miniature mean?
10. What did Mary use to make her miniature city?(At least one of
the following) paper glue
boxes
11. What was the best part of the story? (Tell
me what you liked)

STUDENT MUST RECEIVE AT LEAST 75% (six
out of eight, excluding first, second, and last question to meet
the criterion).

What
are the benefits of Guided Reading?

There are many benefits for both student and teacher
in conducting Guided Reading

Students:
– develop as individual readers
– are given the opportunity to develop and use
reading strategies
– experience success in reading for meaning
– learn how to problem solve with the new text
independentlyTeachers:–
observe individual students as they problem solve new texts
– assess individual students using
running records

What
are the principles of Guided Reading?

The teacher supports children in reading materials
they cannot read totally independently. The principle behind
Guided Reading is to help students learn strategies to apply to
other reading situations:
– Individual or small group
– Teacher makes decisions based on observations
of students’ work
– Usually done with an unfamiliar text
– Others in group need work on same problem
– Children learn from and support one another

What
materials are used to conduct Guided Reading groups?

Guided Reading is based on the premise that students
work in a text that is on their reading level. A balance of independent
reading level combined with what the student can do with the suppport
of a teacher maximizes learning for the reader. Therefore, students
should be able to read a text at between 90 and 95% accuracy during
a guided reading session. Books are leveled from A - Z, with A
being picture books with simple labels or captions up to five
or six words. Book levels increase with difficulty, complexity
of information, and crititcal reading components.

Where
do the books come from?

Lexington Elementary School's bookroom houses
an A - Z collection in each of the genres: Fiction, Nonfiction,
and Content Areas. Books have been purchased by the district and/or
donated from previous classroom collections.

You can search the Book
Room Inventory by Title, Author, or Level by clicking here.